Acacia Cunnings
Profile Biography = The Cunnings Family: The Cunnings, a long line of inquisitors leading up to the founding of The Order itself. The family consisted of human blood until her father married a Darian, who which gave birth to her. Most had expected her to be some form of grotesque creature as she had both human and Darian blood but it seemed that the Darian genes far dominated the Human ones. The only effect about her that could be considered a mutation being that she had 2 sets of ears, one set human-like on the sides of her head and the other mouse-like on the top of her head. While not ashamed of them she took to hiding them under a hat to avoid any unnecessary animosity. Needless to say this didn’t hinder her becoming an Inquisitor like the rest of her family. With her agility, sensitive hearing, and natural affinity for magic she quickly rose into the ranks. The Initiation: Before being accepted into the ranks of the Inquisition an initiate must prove his/her willingness to do whatever it takes to uphold order. This is prove in several ways but the most common is the hunting of runaway Apostates. This was Acacia’s test, as well as her first time killing another living being. … It was the dead of night, Acacia could smell the thick iron scent of blood in the air mingling with sweat and the soothing smell of the palms, a strange smell. There were 3 runaways tonight, one must have been caught. Her heart pounded frantically in her chest. “Calm Down” she yelled to herself putting a hand to her breast. “You prepared yourself for this.” The sound of twigs breaking alerted her to a nearby presence. Quickly and silently she climbed the nearest tree, the sound seemed to be getting closer. She could catch the sight of the source’s shadow under the moon, 1… 2… 3 shadows. Moving slowly, carefully. Only 3 three initiates were deployed tonight, their seniors had set a net on the perimeter of the forest just in case they missed one. 1 had already been killed, or she assumed. There hadn’t been any alerts that one of her comrades had been killed but she could never be sure. These Apostates looked like they were on their 4th year of training, meaning they’d already received their basic combat training. That would be enough to overpower a single initiate of they weren’t careful. Acacia felt a lump of guilt form in her throat, it had been her idea to split up and form a small net around the targets. If that had got one of her comrades killed… She felt her stomach churn, her recent dinner eager to reposition itself outside of her. She resisted the urge to throw up and moved to follow the 3 apostates. They still had a mile before they hit her senior’s net, she would have to kill at least one before then. She readied her crossbow and notched a bolt. As she took aim she couldn’t have had a clearer shot. One round to the spinal cord was all it’d take to down a young apostate, and get her into the Inquisition. But she hesitated, she couldn’t bring herself to kill another person. All the lessons, training, and lectures in the world couldn’t prepare her to easily take someone’s life away from them. Letting out a small, whisper of a sigh she lowered her crossbow. She couldn’t do it, she’d failed her mother, her father, her whole family. “Leaving him to die was the smart idea, I would have never thought of that.” One of the apostates, obviously female chuckled. Were they even trying to hide anymore? “He was a liability anyway.” The one leading them laughed. Male, from the sound of his voice he was probably wasn’t a 4th year, maybe 5th or 6th. If so she wasn’t sure she could take him, the “Unlocker” seed made apostates pretty smart and quick on their feet. “I mean gets scared because he can’t see anymore and decides to run away with us.” The pieces began to fall in place. The blood she smelled was an apostate, one they abandoned. That meant that there were more than they realized, and if so how many could be out here. “He was the final key to the plan, a sacrifice for our freedom. I’m sure he’ll be happy knowing we survived and got out of here alive.” Anger welled in Acacia, how could someone betray their allies so belatedly? Her vision turned red as the rage consumed her. Someone like that doesn’t deserve the swift death the seniors would deliver, no… they need to suffer. She shifted her position until she was to their right. How they hadn’t realized they were being stalked yet she didn’t know and at this point didn’t care. They entered a clearing, the timing couldn’t be better. Acacia released the bolt she notched early and was rewarded by a bloodcurdling scream. The bolt found purchase in the knee of their leader. He wasn’t moving any time soon. Not missing a beat the other 2 scanned their surroundings, but they didn’t spot her. Quickly they lifted him and attempted to carry him to the shadow of the trees, Acacia wouldn’t allow that. Notching another bolt she fired again, this time scoring a hit at the nape of the female’s neck. She went down instantly. The other let out a scream and fled. Their leader crying from him to come back. A smile crept across Acacia’s face, she didn’t notice it. He hunt was on, draping the crossbow across her back she no longer cared about stealth. Switching from tree to tree she chased the run away, a strange laughing sound emitting from her. Was she having fun? He didn’t stand a chance, she landed in front of him, brandishing a dagger. The apostate was armed but seeing such a small girl he thought himself a full. Apparently he had yet to realize that she was the one who killed his companions. He charged fast, if anything he was decisive. She rose her dagger to block his sword, planning to parry him with it then knock him off his feet with a kick. She was surprised by the sheer strength that he swung with. She’d heard stories of the apostate’s raw strength but she’d never been on the receiving end of that strength. She side-stepped unable to hold back his attack any longer. She changed tactics fast, if she couldn’t match him in strength she’d have to best him in speed. She circled around him quickly and slashed at his side but he parried the attack flawlessly. This exchange continued on until she finally managed to overcome him with a decent stab to the throat. Blood sprayed all over her face but she didn’t mind. As her adversaries body hit the ground she couldn’t help but realize how much of a diamond in the rough he had been. He was skilled to say the least, why would someone like that be scared enough to try and escape. She assumed his ego had got the better of him, that he believed the Inquisition wasn’t a threat. Even if he had gotten off the island the Inquisition would have hunted him down without mercy. “One more…” She murmured as she made her way back to the clearing. No one was there upon her return but she did see a small trail of blood leading into the forest. Without hesitation she followed suite, it didn’t take her long to find the now crippled apostate. He had pulled the bolt from his leg, a rather stupid idea. He wouldn’t bleed out but he left a trail for her to follow. Now he was just limping through the forest, falling over in pain every couple meters with tears in his eyes. He knew he was dead. “You know…” Acacia wanted him to suffer, Apostates couldn’t bleed to death but she’d find a way to give him a slow, painful, agonizing death. “You’ve done me a favor.” She stabbed her dagger into his good leg and twisted it before pulling it out. “To think that someone who would abandon his ally so readily would be my ally. Frankly it sickens me. Makes me almost glad you decided to try and make a break for it tonight. Now…” She grabbed him and dragged him screaming over to a tree and start systematically nailing him to the tree with crossbow bolts, starting with his right hand. The sound of his flesh ripping under the pressure of the bolt head as she slowly pressed the bolt in then hammered it with the pommel of her dagger, his screams and whimpers as she worked. They sent a sweet shiver up her spine. This thrill, she could get addicted to it. “Just kill me!” He pleaded as she finished his right hand and moved on to his left. She remained silent for a moment as she prepared to drive the bolt into his hand but paused right before the tip touched him. “Not until I get answers.” She whispered fiendishly in his ear. The pleasure in her voice was almost palpable. “How many of you came out here tonight.” As if encouraging him she began grinding the bolt in. Twisting and twist and twisting the spike as she drove it in. The Apostate screamed in agony and caved instantly. “5!” He cried. “There were 5 of us, we left Adam as bait for the Inquisitors but Cindy broke away from us when we heard him scream. Acacia wasn’t sure if she could trust his words but he sound sincere. Almost as to attest to his confession a feminine scream resounded. “That must be the 5th then. Thank you for your cooperation.” With a cruel smile she drove the bolt home. Now half crucified on the tree the apostate couldn’t move. He wouldn’t die from this though. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He whimpered and began begging for his life. Acacia only got more excited. “Don’t worry…” She spoke in a deceptively soothing voice as she ran her dagger slowly over his chin. “I’ll put you out of your misery soon. You’ll serve as a display to show what happens when one dares to try and escape The Order.” Plunging her dagger into the apostates chest she kept pushing until she was sure she reached his heart. Then as he gasped in pain she twisted the dagger until his body fell limp. When her seniors came they found 3 apostates body nailed to the tree, one of their faces twisted in agony and despair. Acacia sat on the ground against a tree across from them, looking upon her work with pride and what some thought was a hint of arousal. Peeling a wide array of splinters from her hands as they bleed. When she noticed them she only smiled at them. A genuinely satisfied smile that said she accomplished her mission, that she had done nothing wrong. The next morning she awoke screaming, plagued by nightmares of what she had done that night. Disgust, fear, shame. All these emotions assaulted her at once. She didn’t dare to speak of what she did that night. Not out of shame, nor fear of what people would think. But because deep down she knew that she enjoyed what she had done that night. Hunting other people down like animals and watching them suffer. The thrill, the pleasure from that night had sunken into her very soul, and she knew she search for such sweet release again. No one spoke of what happened the night of Acacia Cunnings’ initiation outside of murmurs and whispers. The corpses of the 3 apostates were never removed, the bolts apparently welded there magically. It is said the number of corpses increased with every new runaway. The forest earned the name “Death’s Garden”, feared by both the inquisitors and the Apostates for all the spirits forever trapped in it’s confines. When hearing rumors of the spirits years later Acacia could only laugh, recalling what she had said that night. “You’ll serve as a display to show what happens when one dares to try and escape The Order.” |-|Abilities = Personal Crest - Inquisitor: *'Attribute' - Fire *'Crest Decal' - A Raven with a bolt in its beak and a small creature in its talons surrounded in a circle of flame. Crest Magic: Crest Magic is a form of magic that utilizes crest as focuses for spells. Any one crest usually has an elemental attachment to it that grants any spell focused through it that element's affinity. *'Insignia Spell' - Blaze **Focusing mana through their crest the user instructs it to act as flame, coating their weapon and enhancing their attacks. *'Sigil Spell' - Flash Step **By projecting the Sigil in front of them and passing through it the user moves so fast he/she becomes untraceable for a short period of time. This spell works in a point A to B biases. *'Crest Spell' - Smite **A classic offensive spell of the Order. Using the crest they target an area to be struck with a harmful blast of mana from above. This spell’s elemental affiliation changes depending on the elemental affiliation of the crest. *'Crest Spell' - Immolate **By making contact with something the user can plant their crest on it. The strength and duration of this crest is determined by how much mana the user focused into it. They can then activate it remotely to harm whatever they planted it on. In Acacia's case this would be setting the target in question on fire. |-|Equipment = Sukai no Hikisaku Translating to Sky Render Sukai no Hikisaku is a glaive polearm. The blade is around 16 inches long on the end of a 1.1 meter long pole. On the side of the blade is the Inquisitor Crest and a small hook on the reverse end. Sukai no Hikisaku houses the daemon Hikio Daughter of Astaroth. Named after the weapon itself Hikio is capable of summoning Hell Fire and has the physical form of a snake. Standard Issue Crossbow and Bolt Quiver A traditional lever action crossbow with The Inquisition insignia on the side. The crossbow is equipped with a small blade under the head for close combat. The quiver is generally capable of holding up to 20 bolts. |-|Techniques = Acacia primary melee focus is the polearm, something she trained with since she was a child. She also has received training in swords, maces, and ranged ballistics. Within the ranged catagory she found her home with the crossbow, it being one of the easier ranged weapons to us. Martial Techniques: *'Shimmering Willow' - A polearm fighting style consisting of 26 different stances, split respectively into 4 different forms. **'Shimmering Willow Form 1' - A form specializing in leaping attacks and quick retreats. **'Shimmering Willow Form 2' - A form specializing in finishing moves, generally focusing on heavy swings and counters. **'Bleeding Willow' - 12 Stances specializing in lunging, sweeping attacks meant to maximize range and devastate opponents. **'Shimmering Blight' - 12 Stances specializing in rapid, spinning strikes and powerful slashes meant to take down several opponents at once. Demon Techniques: *'Hell's Fury' - Hikio coats Acacia's weapon in Hell-fire for a short period of time, causing her attacks to immolate her enemies. *'Blood Surge' - Hikio extends the reach of Acacia's polearm allowing her to reach further. *'Daemon's Binding' - An improved form of Acacia's Binding Crest Technique. Acacia implants the binding spell in a crossbow bolt, which is then strengthened by Hikio. When the bolt finds it's mark in something it will gain more momentum for a moment to seek out somewhere to pin them. If the crossbow does strike a second object the spell activates and seals the person, body and soul to that location until the spell is disabled or bolt removed. (Which can only be done by the caster or by overloading the spell itself.) Category:Syphon Category:The Order Category:Inquistion Category:Character